Deborah Rodriguez

The details about life in Afghanistan, stories of the women who survived the war with Russia and the rule of the Taliban are interesting and informative. But there is much that is perplexing and even disingenuous. The author sleep walks into an arranged marriage with a man who already has a wife and children in Saudi Arabia. She fixes herself inside this system that has been responsible for the oppressive lives of the women she is there to help. The most potent feeling she can conjure for show more the other wife (who is treated as a servant in the home of their husband's parents) is a squeamishness about her father-in-law's suggestion that they meet. She identifies with many of the women in her school because of her previous marriage to an abusive spouse, and it seems like she would be informed by that experience in the choices that she makes. The sexual abuse of a young girl in her home that happened with Ali, her business partner and house mate, seem inevitable. She puts a stop to it when she witnesses it, regrets the acquaintance, and distances herself from him as soon as she can, but it seems like it went on for months or years before she caught on and wasn't it obvious all along? There were other instances of sexually abusive behavior from a housekeeper, but Debbie kept the woman around and it broke her heart to let her go. The book is more complicated in the questions that it begs than it is as a memoir of an intrepid traveler trying to do some good in the world. It seems like the author's intentions were good, but her motivations and impulses unexamined and maybe even harmful. show less

The Island on the Edge of the World is an engaging and thought provoking contemporary fiction novel from Deborah Rodriguez.

At her beloved grandmother’s insistence that her estranged mother is in trouble, Charlie reluctantly agrees to a trip to Haiti to find her, though she doubts April has any need of them since it’s been more than a decade since they last heard from her. On their journey to Port-au-Prince, Charlie and Bea meet Lizbeth, a Texan widow in search of her late son’s show more girlfriend, Senzey and their child. Together the women make their way through the colourful, confronting, and chaotic streets of Haiti, finding friendship, family, and forgiveness.

Unfolding primarily from the perspectives of Charlie, Bea, and Lizbeth, Rodriguez’s characters are interesting women with strong motives for undertaking the challenging journey to Haiti. Bea feels strongly that Charlie needs to reconnect with her mother if she is going ever to move past the consequences of her difficult childhood, and while deep down Charlie recognises she has a need for some sort of closure, she believes she is simply humouring her grandmother’s ‘visions’ when she agrees to the task. Meanwhile Lizbeth is still grieving after tragically losing both her husband and son in quick succession. When she learned that her son fathered a child with a local girl while working in Haiti with a NGO, she impulsively decided to search for them, but far from her comfort zone Lizbeth is quickly overwhelmed by the task in a country that lacks familiar infrastructure.

Rodriguez’s depiction of Haiti and its vibrant yet disordered culture is vivid and thoughtful. The country has yet to recover from the devastating physical damage caused by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2010, nor of the well meaning assistance that followed, much of which has done more harm than good, perverted by ignorance, corruption, and the clash of Christian dogma with the nation’s Vodoun beliefs. The author touches on a number of sensitive subjects that plague the country including human trafficking, child slavery (Restavek), labour exploitation, and prejudice. Yet the people of Haiti fight to survive, and thrive, against all odds, and the Haitian characters of Senzey and Mackenson, the women’s translator/driver, illustrate this admirable spirit of strength and bravery.

Despite the serious elements within the novel, there is also humour and plenty of heart in The Island At the Edge of the World. This is a charming and thoughtful read with a social conscience. show less

Sunny is a single American woman, who has lived in Afghanistan for a few years now. She runs a small coffee shop. When she finds Yasmina, a woman she suspects is pregnant, alone with no where to go, she takes her in and gives her a job at her shop. But a single pregnant woman with no husband can be dangerous in Afghanistan.

I really enjoyed this. I was disappointed in the ending, but up till then, I really enjoyed it. I listened to the audio and I thought the narrator was really good. She show more was able to do a variety of both accents and voices. There were many more characters than those mentioned in my summary, and I enjoyed all their stories. show less

I read Deborah Rodriguez’s memoir Kabul Beauty School and loved it, of course I may be slightly biased because I’ve been a cosmetologist for 40 years and was a wild woman during my 20’s, so I feel a kinship with the author. Wild woman would be putting it mildly when it comes to Deborah, who moved to Afghanistan after 911 to help a ministry and ended up doing hair and sharing her profession with the woman there. Her new memoir is even a nuttier move because, after barely escaping show more Afghanistan, she chooses to live in Mazatlan, Mexico a drug war hot spot, rather than guru-out in the hills of Napa, California. Okay, it does make sense when she puts the pieces of her story together, but still I found myself praying that everything would work out for her. She’s brave, and vulnerable, and funny so I hope you’ll take a journey with her because it will entertain you and touch your heart. 5 stars. show less